Chortitza
Encyclopedia
Chortitza Colony was a Russian Mennonite settlement northwest of Khortytsia Island and is now part of Zaporizhia
, Ukraine
. Chortitza was founded in 1789 by
Low Saxon-speaking (also referred to as Mennonite Plautdietsch) Mennonite settlers from West Prussia
and consisted of many villages. It was the first of many Mennonite settlements in Russia. Because the Mennonites living in these villages emigrated or were evacuated or deported at the end of World War II, mostly Ukrainians and Russians are found there today.
had lived in West Prussia from the middle of 16th century. Because of their fast growing population, finding more arable land was a concern. When West Prussia became part of the Kingdom of Prussia
in 1772 through the First Partition of Poland
, the Prussian Government enacted a law making it difficult for Mennonites to acquire land. This compelled a significant part of the Mennonite population to seek better opportunities in nearby cities, Danzig in particular.
Believing agriculture to be the backbone of the Russian economy, in 1763 Catherine II of Russia
issued a Manifesto inviting Europeans to farm Russia's unoccupied agricultural lands. Though land opportunities were scattered throughout Russia, the largest tracts available were along the banks and watershed of the Volga River south of Saratov. Colonization by non-Russians in that area also served as a buffer zone against invading Mongol hordes to the east. Colonization attempts were intensified in 1774 after the Russo-Turkish War
when Potemkin
was appointed governor general of South Russia which included territory recently won
from the Sultan
of the Ottoman Empire
.
Colonization agents advertised the availability of crown land
s to people throughout Europe. One of these was Georg von Trappe, who visited the Mennonites of Danzig in 1786. The Mennonite congregations elected two delegates, Jakob Höppner and Johann Bartsch, who von Trappe arranged to send to Russia at government expense. They departed in the fall of 1786, sailing first to Riga
, then traveling cross country, arriving at the Dnieper
in late November. From here they sailed down the river looking for a suitable site. They met Potemkin at Kremenchuk
and were presented to Catherine in May, as she was inspecting her new territories. They found a suitable settlement location, then returned home by way of Saint Petersburg
, where they met with Crown Prince Paul
, who confirmed the promises made by von Trappe.
The special privileges included guarantees of religious freedom, exemption from military service
, 70 ha (175 acres) of free land for each family, exemption from swearing oath
s in legal proceedings, ability to establish their own schools and teach in their own language, the right to restrict the establishment of taverns and the ability to make their own beverages. These rights and privileges were beyond those enjoyed by common Russian peasants. There were restrictions that applied to all colonists, such as a restrictions against proselytizing among Russian Orthodox Church
members and revocation of privileges for anyone leaving or marrying outside of the colony. Land could be inherited, so long as it remained part of the settlement. A farm could not be subdivided among heirs in order to keep the intact and not degrade the model farming practices that were the intention of the government.
Upon their return, Höppner and Bartsch found that four families had already departed for Riga and hundreds more were eager to immigrate. The West Prussian authorities, though restricting the expansion of Mennonite settlements locally, did not want the wealth of the Mennonites to leave the country. Only the poorest families were granted passports.
Mennonite settlers, 228 families in all, set out for Russia in the winter of 1787, arriving in Dubrovna (today in Belarus
) in fall of 1788, where they over-wintered. Early in 1789 they traveled down the Dnieper River to the settlement site, on the banks of the Dnieper, near present-day Kherson
. Their original destination was now a battlefield because of renewed Russo-Turkish hostilities
, necessitating an alternate location. They received land at a new site on Khortytsia, a small tributary of the Dnieper, near Alexandrovsk (present-day Zaporizhia).
The pioneering years were extremely difficult. The more prosperous brought their possession by wagon while the others sent them by barge. When the barges arrived they found that the containers had been ransacked and valuables removed or ruined by rain. Similarly, building material sent down-river was stolen before it arrived. Many of the settlers were city laborers with no knowledge of farming, and the farmers among them found the dry steppes unsuitable to their former farming methods.
Internal friction among the settlers, rooted in a long standing division separating Frisian
and Flemish
branches of the church, was compounded by the lack of any pastoral leadership. Church leaders were traditionally selected from lay members of the congregation and were expected to serve for life as unpaid pastors. Because pastors were expected to support themselves, they were usually chosen from among those who were prosperous enough to do so. Because only the poorest were allowed to leave Prussia, there were no pastors among the settlers.
Initially families built temporary shelters such as sod dugouts and tents while a few tried to live in their wagons. Höppner and Bartsch were able to build substantial homes. Land was divided among the families and each lived on their own land. In response to the lawlessness of the region they found that it was more practical to group themselves together in villages of fifteen to thirty families.
As their difficulties mounted, the settlers accused Höppner and Bartsch of keeping government money intended for colony use. Both men were excommunicated from the Flemish church and the authorities were convinced to arrest Höppner. Bartsch confessed his wrongdoing and was reinstated into his congregation. Höppner was soon released from prison, moved to Alexandrovsk and joined the Frisian group. In 1889 a monument commemorating the colony's centennial was placed on Höppner's grave. It has since been moved to Mennonite Heritage Village
in Steinbach, Manitoba
.
Initially eight villages were organized with Chortitza as the governmental center. They included Chortitza (Khortitsa), Einlage (Kichkas), Insel Chortitza (Ostrov Khortitsa), Kronsweide (Vladimirovka), Neuenburg (Malashevka), Neuendorf (Shirokoye), Rosental (Kanzerovka), and Schönhorst (Vodianaya). Another 180 families arrived in 1797-1798 to found Kronsgarten (Polovitsa) and Schönwiese (Shenvitse). The latter was the sole village established on the east bank of the Dnieper. Nieder Chortitza (Nizhniaia Khortitsa) and Burwalde (Baburka) were founded in 1803, Kronstal (Dolinsk) in 1809, Osterwick (Pavlovka) in 1812, Schöneberg (Smolianaya) in 1816, and Blumengart (Kapustianka) and Rosengart (Novoslobodka) in 1824.
When the next wave of Mennonite settlers came to Russia In 1803, they over-wintered in Chortitza Colony before moving on to form the Molotschna
settlement. The money spent by the new group during their stay in turn helped the Chortitza settlement.
All of the Chortitza villages formed a district headed by a superintendent and regional bureau that could administer corporal punishment and handle other matters affecting the villages in common. Insurance and fire protection were handled at the regional level, as well as dealing with delinquents and other social problems. Chortitza, along with the other Mennonite settlements, functioned as a democratic state, enjoying freedoms beyond those of ordinary Russian peasants.
The Central School (Zentralschule) was started in Chortitza in 1842. Over three thousand pupils attended the Central School with up to 8% of the colonists receiving a secondary education. A decree by the Ministry of Education in 1881 prohibited coeducation in secondary schools necessitating the foundation of a separate high school for girls (the Mädchenschule) in 1895. The four year secondary programs taught religion, history, arithmetic, science, Russian and German language and literature, geography, penmanship, and art. Girls received instruction in needlecraft as well.
The co-educational teacher training seminary, founded as a separate institution in 1914, expanded what had been a two-year extension of the secondary school to a three-year program. Third year students did their practice teaching at the nearby model elementary school (Musterschule).
By the early twentieth century, a growing number of students extended their education to gimnaziia, schools of trade and commerce, and universities in Switzerland, Germany, as well as Russia.
Eventually an economy developed and the Chortitza settlement prospered. In the course of the 19th century the population of Chortitza multiplied, and daughter colonies were founded. Part of the settlement moved to Canada in 1870. Since Chortitza was the first Mennonite settlement, it is known as the Old Colony. Those who moved from Chortitza to North America are often referred to as Old Colony Mennonites and are more conservative than most other Russian Mennonites in North America.
The settlement received income from communal land and enterprises. A public ferry across the Dnieper earned between two and three thousand rubles annually, the municipal merino
flock totaled about a thousand animals in 1820 and a distillery provided additional community income. These funds were used for large undertakings, such as forming daughter colonies for the growing population.
The settlement's first economic setback was overcome through the effort of skilled craftsmen. Industry in Chortitza developed in the middle of the 19th century, mainly milling and production of agricultural machinery and clocks. The growing landless population found work in these factories. Three large factories, Lepp & Wallmann, Abram J. Koop, Hildebrand & Pries and two smaller factories, Thiessen und Rempel produced agricultural machinery in Chortitza and Rosental. The machinery was used not just by Mennonites, but all over Russia. In later years, the three largest factories were combined into a single business and, after the Russian Revolution of 1917
, produced tractors and automobiles under the Saporoschetz brand. The business was confiscated from the former Mennonite owners shortly after the 1917 revolution and today is part of AvtoZAZ
-Daewoo
.
A long period of prosperity was broken by World War I (1914–1918), which led into the Russian Civil War
, interrupting the lives of Chortitza's residents. Mennonites served as medics
during the war, caring for injured soldiers. For a short time after the war, the German army occupied Ukraine, including Chortitza. After the Armistice
at the end of 1918 the German soldiers withdrew. A self-defense force was organized within the villages, perhaps with help and weapons from the German army. Some of the Mennonites took part in this force, even though they traditionally opposed military service on religious grounds. Civil war raged from 1917 to 1921 as the communists tried to take power. Things were chaotic in Ukraine during this period of constant revolution. Nestor Makhno
's army would target the Mennonite colonies because they were considered Kulaks and far better off than the regular Ukrainian peasants. Initially the villages attempted to protect themselves with the help of the self-defense force. Resisting Makhno was no longer possible during one of his alliances with the Red Army
.
During the period mid October 1919 to the last week in December of that year, Makhno's army occupied all the colony’s villages and much of the district up to Dnipropetrovsk (then Ekaterioslav). The Makhnovists invaded the colonists’ homes, murdered and raped at will, and spread venereal diseases and typhus. The latter epidemic ultimately infected roughly 95% of the local population, of which more than 10% died.
.
In 1926 the village of Einlage was abandoned to make way for the flooding from the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station
dam. Many other Chortitza Mennonites suffered under the dekulakization
programs of the 1920s and the collectivization
of 1930. Confiscated land was given to peasants, usually Communist Party members. In May 1931, with these newest citizens of Chortitza village voted out the remaining Mennonite landowners. From 1929 to 1940, 1500 men of a total population of 12,000 were exile
d to hard labor in the far north or Siberia.
advanced so quickly, the plan could not be executed. Under German occupation, the population made a degree of recovery. But by 1943 German people were evacuated to Reichsgau Wartheland
, and the Wehrmacht retreated from the Soviet Union. As the Red Army entered German territory they seized refugees attempting to flee the Soviet Union. Some escaped by going deeper into Germany, but as Soviet citizens, the Allies delivered them back to the Soviets. With a few exceptions, the former residents of Chortitza were deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan
. There they were simply released on the bare steppe. Many did not survive. They shared the fate of other Germans from Russia
.
.
At the end of the 1980s Mennonites in the Soviet Union began to immigrate to Germany. Today the former residents of Chortitza and their descendents are mainly found in Germany.
Zaporizhia
Zaporizhia or Zaporozhye [formerly Alexandrovsk ] is a city in southeastern Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper River. It is the administrative center of the Zaporizhia Oblast...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. Chortitza was founded in 1789 by
Low Saxon-speaking (also referred to as Mennonite Plautdietsch) Mennonite settlers from West Prussia
West Prussia
West Prussia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773–1824 and 1878–1919/20 which was created out of the earlier Polish province of Royal Prussia...
and consisted of many villages. It was the first of many Mennonite settlements in Russia. Because the Mennonites living in these villages emigrated or were evacuated or deported at the end of World War II, mostly Ukrainians and Russians are found there today.
Background
Dutch Vistula delta MennonitesVistula delta Mennonites
Vistula delta Mennonites settled in the delta of the Vistula between the late 16th century and 1945.-Origins:The Mennonite movement was founded by Menno Simons, a Dutch priest who left the Catholic Church in 1536 and became a leader within the Anabaptist movement...
had lived in West Prussia from the middle of 16th century. Because of their fast growing population, finding more arable land was a concern. When West Prussia became part of the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
in 1772 through the First Partition of Poland
First Partition of Poland
The First Partition of Poland or First Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in 1772 as the first of three partitions that ended the existence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. Growth in the Russian Empire's power, threatening the Kingdom of Prussia and the...
, the Prussian Government enacted a law making it difficult for Mennonites to acquire land. This compelled a significant part of the Mennonite population to seek better opportunities in nearby cities, Danzig in particular.
Believing agriculture to be the backbone of the Russian economy, in 1763 Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...
issued a Manifesto inviting Europeans to farm Russia's unoccupied agricultural lands. Though land opportunities were scattered throughout Russia, the largest tracts available were along the banks and watershed of the Volga River south of Saratov. Colonization by non-Russians in that area also served as a buffer zone against invading Mongol hordes to the east. Colonization attempts were intensified in 1774 after the Russo-Turkish War
Russo-Turkish War, 1768-1774
The Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 was a decisive conflict that brought Southern Ukraine, Northern Caucasus, and Crimea within the orbit of the Russian Empire.-Background:...
when Potemkin
Grigori Alexandrovich Potemkin
Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tavricheski was a Russian military leader, statesman, nobleman and favorite of Catherine the Great. He died during negotiations over the Treaty of Jassy, which ended a war with the Ottoman Empire that he had overseen....
was appointed governor general of South Russia which included territory recently won
Treaty of Kucuk Kaynarca
The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca was signed on 21 July 1774, in Küçük Kaynarca , Dobruja between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire after the Ottoman Empire was defeated in the...
from the Sultan
Mustafa III
Mustafa III was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1757 to 1774. He was a son of Sultan Ahmed III and was succeeded by his brother Abdul Hamid I . He was born in Edirne...
of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
.
Colonization agents advertised the availability of crown land
Crown land
In Commonwealth realms, Crown land is an area belonging to the monarch , the equivalent of an entailed estate that passed with the monarchy and could not be alienated from it....
s to people throughout Europe. One of these was Georg von Trappe, who visited the Mennonites of Danzig in 1786. The Mennonite congregations elected two delegates, Jakob Höppner and Johann Bartsch, who von Trappe arranged to send to Russia at government expense. They departed in the fall of 1786, sailing first to Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
, then traveling cross country, arriving at the Dnieper
Dnieper River
The Dnieper River is one of the major rivers of Europe that flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea.The total length is and has a drainage basin of .The river is noted for its dams and hydroelectric stations...
in late November. From here they sailed down the river looking for a suitable site. They met Potemkin at Kremenchuk
Kremenchuk
Kremenchuk is an important industrial city in the Poltava Oblast of central Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Kremenchutskyi Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast, and is located on the banks of Dnieper River.-History:Kremenchuk was...
and were presented to Catherine in May, as she was inspecting her new territories. They found a suitable settlement location, then returned home by way of Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, where they met with Crown Prince Paul
Paul I of Russia
Paul I was the Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801. He also was the 72nd Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta .-Childhood:...
, who confirmed the promises made by von Trappe.
The special privileges included guarantees of religious freedom, exemption from military service
Nonresistance
Nonresistance is generally defined as "the practice or principle of not resisting authority, even when it is unjustly exercised". At its core is discouragement of, even opposition to, physical resistance to an enemy...
, 70 ha (175 acres) of free land for each family, exemption from swearing oath
Oath
An oath is either a statement of fact or a promise calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred, usually God, as a witness to the binding nature of the promise or the truth of the statement of fact. To swear is to take an oath, to make a solemn vow...
s in legal proceedings, ability to establish their own schools and teach in their own language, the right to restrict the establishment of taverns and the ability to make their own beverages. These rights and privileges were beyond those enjoyed by common Russian peasants. There were restrictions that applied to all colonists, such as a restrictions against proselytizing among Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
members and revocation of privileges for anyone leaving or marrying outside of the colony. Land could be inherited, so long as it remained part of the settlement. A farm could not be subdivided among heirs in order to keep the intact and not degrade the model farming practices that were the intention of the government.
Upon their return, Höppner and Bartsch found that four families had already departed for Riga and hundreds more were eager to immigrate. The West Prussian authorities, though restricting the expansion of Mennonite settlements locally, did not want the wealth of the Mennonites to leave the country. Only the poorest families were granted passports.
Settlement
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
) in fall of 1788, where they over-wintered. Early in 1789 they traveled down the Dnieper River to the settlement site, on the banks of the Dnieper, near present-day Kherson
Kherson
Kherson is a city in southern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Kherson Oblast , and is designated as its own separate raion within the oblast. Kherson is an important port on the Black Sea and Dnieper River, and the home of a major ship-building industry...
. Their original destination was now a battlefield because of renewed Russo-Turkish hostilities
Russo-Turkish War (1787-1792)
The Russo–Turkish War of 1787–1792 involved a futile attempt by the Ottoman Empire to regain lands lost to Russia in the course of the previous Russo–Turkish War, 1768–1774. It took place concomitantly with the Austro-Turkish War of 1787-1791....
, necessitating an alternate location. They received land at a new site on Khortytsia, a small tributary of the Dnieper, near Alexandrovsk (present-day Zaporizhia).
The pioneering years were extremely difficult. The more prosperous brought their possession by wagon while the others sent them by barge. When the barges arrived they found that the containers had been ransacked and valuables removed or ruined by rain. Similarly, building material sent down-river was stolen before it arrived. Many of the settlers were city laborers with no knowledge of farming, and the farmers among them found the dry steppes unsuitable to their former farming methods.
Internal friction among the settlers, rooted in a long standing division separating Frisian
Frisians
The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to the coastal parts of the Netherlands and Germany. They are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, East Frisia and North Frisia, that was a part of Denmark until 1864. They inhabit an area known as Frisia...
and Flemish
Flemish people
The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...
branches of the church, was compounded by the lack of any pastoral leadership. Church leaders were traditionally selected from lay members of the congregation and were expected to serve for life as unpaid pastors. Because pastors were expected to support themselves, they were usually chosen from among those who were prosperous enough to do so. Because only the poorest were allowed to leave Prussia, there were no pastors among the settlers.
Initially families built temporary shelters such as sod dugouts and tents while a few tried to live in their wagons. Höppner and Bartsch were able to build substantial homes. Land was divided among the families and each lived on their own land. In response to the lawlessness of the region they found that it was more practical to group themselves together in villages of fifteen to thirty families.
As their difficulties mounted, the settlers accused Höppner and Bartsch of keeping government money intended for colony use. Both men were excommunicated from the Flemish church and the authorities were convinced to arrest Höppner. Bartsch confessed his wrongdoing and was reinstated into his congregation. Höppner was soon released from prison, moved to Alexandrovsk and joined the Frisian group. In 1889 a monument commemorating the colony's centennial was placed on Höppner's grave. It has since been moved to Mennonite Heritage Village
Mennonite Heritage Village
Mennonite Heritage Village is a museum in Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada. It is a major tourist attraction in the area, as thousands of visitors visit it each year...
in Steinbach, Manitoba
Steinbach, Manitoba
Steinbach is a city of approx. 13,500 people in the southeast corner of the province of Manitoba, Canada, a short distance from the capital Winnipeg. Steinbach is the largest community in the Eastman region of Manitoba. The city is located in the R.M. of Hanover and bordered to the east by the R.M...
.
Initially eight villages were organized with Chortitza as the governmental center. They included Chortitza (Khortitsa), Einlage (Kichkas), Insel Chortitza (Ostrov Khortitsa), Kronsweide (Vladimirovka), Neuenburg (Malashevka), Neuendorf (Shirokoye), Rosental (Kanzerovka), and Schönhorst (Vodianaya). Another 180 families arrived in 1797-1798 to found Kronsgarten (Polovitsa) and Schönwiese (Shenvitse). The latter was the sole village established on the east bank of the Dnieper. Nieder Chortitza (Nizhniaia Khortitsa) and Burwalde (Baburka) were founded in 1803, Kronstal (Dolinsk) in 1809, Osterwick (Pavlovka) in 1812, Schöneberg (Smolianaya) in 1816, and Blumengart (Kapustianka) and Rosengart (Novoslobodka) in 1824.
When the next wave of Mennonite settlers came to Russia In 1803, they over-wintered in Chortitza Colony before moving on to form the Molotschna
Molotschna
Molotschna Colony was a Russian Mennonite settlement in what is now Zaporizhia Oblast in Ukraine. Today is called Molochansk with a population of under 10,000. The settlement is named after the Molochna River which forms its western boundary. Today the land mostly falls within the Tokmatskyi and...
settlement. The money spent by the new group during their stay in turn helped the Chortitza settlement.
Local government
Mennonite colonies were self-governing with little intervention from the Russian authorities. The village, the basic unit of government, was headed by an elected magistrate who oversaw village affairs. Each village controlled its own school, roads and cared for the poor. Male landowners decided local matters at village assemblies.All of the Chortitza villages formed a district headed by a superintendent and regional bureau that could administer corporal punishment and handle other matters affecting the villages in common. Insurance and fire protection were handled at the regional level, as well as dealing with delinquents and other social problems. Chortitza, along with the other Mennonite settlements, functioned as a democratic state, enjoying freedoms beyond those of ordinary Russian peasants.
Education
At a time when compulsory education was unknown in Europe, the Mennonite colonies formed an elementary school in each village. Students learned practical skills such as reading and writing German and arithmetic. Religion was included as was singing in many schools. The teacher was typically a craftsperson or herder, untrained in teaching, who fit class time around his occupation. The curriculum evolved as professional teachers gradually took their place. By the late Nineteenth Century the six grades included classes in religion, German, Russian, arithmetic, geography, history, and natural science, with difficulty appropriate to the grade.The Central School (Zentralschule) was started in Chortitza in 1842. Over three thousand pupils attended the Central School with up to 8% of the colonists receiving a secondary education. A decree by the Ministry of Education in 1881 prohibited coeducation in secondary schools necessitating the foundation of a separate high school for girls (the Mädchenschule) in 1895. The four year secondary programs taught religion, history, arithmetic, science, Russian and German language and literature, geography, penmanship, and art. Girls received instruction in needlecraft as well.
The co-educational teacher training seminary, founded as a separate institution in 1914, expanded what had been a two-year extension of the secondary school to a three-year program. Third year students did their practice teaching at the nearby model elementary school (Musterschule).
By the early twentieth century, a growing number of students extended their education to gimnaziia, schools of trade and commerce, and universities in Switzerland, Germany, as well as Russia.
Daughter colonies
As the population of the colony grew and land became scarce, new areas for resettlement were sought. In 1864 land was rented from Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia to form Fürstenland, which by 1911 consisted of five villages with 1800 residents. Borozenko was formed in 1865 and by 1915 totaled five villages with a population of 600. Further colonies were established at Bergthal (1836), Yazykovo (1869), Nepluyevka (1870), Schlachtin and Baratov (1871), Ignatyevo (1888), and Borissovo (1892)Economy
| Occupations in 1819 |
|
|---|---|
| Number | Occupation |
| 2 | Clockmaker Clockmaker A clockmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs clocks. Since almost all clocks are now factory-made, most modern clockmakers only repair clocks. Modern clockmakers may be employed by jewellers, antique shops, and places devoted strictly to repairing clocks and watches... s |
| 9 | Turner Woodturning Woodturning is a form of woodworking that is used to create wooden objects on a lathe . Woodturning differs from most other forms of woodworking in that the wood is moving while a stationary tool is used to cut and shape it... s |
| 2 | Cooper Cooper (profession) Traditionally, a cooper is someone who makes wooden staved vessels of a conical form, of greater length than breadth, bound together with hoops and possessing flat ends or heads... s |
| 88 | Joiner Joiner A joiner differs from a carpenter in that joiners cut and fit joints in wood that do not use nails. Joiners usually work in a workshop since the formation of various joints generally requires non-portable machinery. A carpenter normally works on site... s |
| 26 | Carpenter Carpenter A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors.... s |
| 16 | Smith Blacksmith A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut... s |
| 49 | Weaver Weaving Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling... s |
| 1 | Dye Dye A dye is a colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution, and requires a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber.... r |
| 25 | Tailor Tailor A tailor is a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothing professionally, especially suits and men's clothing.Although the term dates to the thirteenth century, tailor took on its modern sense in the late eighteenth century, and now refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats, trousers,... s |
| 20 | Shoemakers |
| several | Brewer Brewery A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company.... s |
| several | Miller Miller A miller usually refers to a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a cereal crop to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents in other languages around the world... s |
| from 18 villages with a total of 2888 residents. |
|
Eventually an economy developed and the Chortitza settlement prospered. In the course of the 19th century the population of Chortitza multiplied, and daughter colonies were founded. Part of the settlement moved to Canada in 1870. Since Chortitza was the first Mennonite settlement, it is known as the Old Colony. Those who moved from Chortitza to North America are often referred to as Old Colony Mennonites and are more conservative than most other Russian Mennonites in North America.
The settlement received income from communal land and enterprises. A public ferry across the Dnieper earned between two and three thousand rubles annually, the municipal merino
Merino
The Merino is an economically influential breed of sheep prized for its wool. Merinos are regarded as having some of the finest and softest wool of any sheep...
flock totaled about a thousand animals in 1820 and a distillery provided additional community income. These funds were used for large undertakings, such as forming daughter colonies for the growing population.
The settlement's first economic setback was overcome through the effort of skilled craftsmen. Industry in Chortitza developed in the middle of the 19th century, mainly milling and production of agricultural machinery and clocks. The growing landless population found work in these factories. Three large factories, Lepp & Wallmann, Abram J. Koop, Hildebrand & Pries and two smaller factories, Thiessen und Rempel produced agricultural machinery in Chortitza and Rosental. The machinery was used not just by Mennonites, but all over Russia. In later years, the three largest factories were combined into a single business and, after the Russian Revolution of 1917
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
, produced tractors and automobiles under the Saporoschetz brand. The business was confiscated from the former Mennonite owners shortly after the 1917 revolution and today is part of AvtoZAZ
AvtoZAZ
AvtoZAZ is an automotive manufacturing company in Ukraine. It was founded in 1975 as Industrial Association, а holding that incorporated ZAZ, MeMZ, Illichivsk Automobile Parts Plant and a number of other automobile-production facilities in Lutzk and Kherson...
-Daewoo
Daewoo
Daewoo or the Daewoo Group was a major South Korean chaebol . It was founded on 22 March 1967 as Daewoo Industrial and was dismantled by the Korean government in 1999...
.
Anarchy
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
, interrupting the lives of Chortitza's residents. Mennonites served as medics
Combat medic
Combat medics are trained military personnel who are responsible for providing first aid and frontline trauma care on the battlefield. They are also responsible for providing continuing medical care in the absence of a readily available physician, including care for disease and battle injury...
during the war, caring for injured soldiers. For a short time after the war, the German army occupied Ukraine, including Chortitza. After the Armistice
Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)
The armistice between the Allies and Germany was an agreement that ended the fighting in the First World War. It was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on 11 November 1918 and marked a victory for the Allies and a complete defeat for Germany, although not technically a surrender...
at the end of 1918 the German soldiers withdrew. A self-defense force was organized within the villages, perhaps with help and weapons from the German army. Some of the Mennonites took part in this force, even though they traditionally opposed military service on religious grounds. Civil war raged from 1917 to 1921 as the communists tried to take power. Things were chaotic in Ukraine during this period of constant revolution. Nestor Makhno
Nestor Makhno
Nestor Ivanovych Makhno or simply Daddy Makhno was a Ukrainian anarcho-communist guerrilla leader turned army commander who led an independent anarchist army in Ukraine during the Russian Civil War....
's army would target the Mennonite colonies because they were considered Kulaks and far better off than the regular Ukrainian peasants. Initially the villages attempted to protect themselves with the help of the self-defense force. Resisting Makhno was no longer possible during one of his alliances with the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
.
During the period mid October 1919 to the last week in December of that year, Makhno's army occupied all the colony’s villages and much of the district up to Dnipropetrovsk (then Ekaterioslav). The Makhnovists invaded the colonists’ homes, murdered and raped at will, and spread venereal diseases and typhus. The latter epidemic ultimately infected roughly 95% of the local population, of which more than 10% died.
Communism
After communists gained control over the region, they began to appropriate grain from the landowners. Eventually the population began to starve and epidemics spread. During this time Mennonites began organizing to immigrate to Canada. In 1923 many of the former large landowners, ministers and internal refugees migrated to Canada, with credit provided by the Canadian Pacific RailwayCanadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
.
In 1926 the village of Einlage was abandoned to make way for the flooding from the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station
Dnieper Hydroelectric Station
The Dnieper Hydroelectric Station is the largest hydroelectric power station on the Dnieper River, placed in Zaporizhia, Ukraine.- Early Plans :In the lower current of the Dnieper River there were almost 100 km long part of the river filled with rapids...
dam. Many other Chortitza Mennonites suffered under the dekulakization
Kulak
Kulaks were a category of relatively affluent peasants in the later Russian Empire, Soviet Russia, and early Soviet Union...
programs of the 1920s and the collectivization
Collectivisation in the USSR
Collectivization in the Soviet Union was a policy pursued under Stalin between 1928 and 1940. The goal of this policy was to consolidate individual land and labour into collective farms...
of 1930. Confiscated land was given to peasants, usually Communist Party members. In May 1931, with these newest citizens of Chortitza village voted out the remaining Mennonite landowners. From 1929 to 1940, 1500 men of a total population of 12,000 were exile
Involuntary settlements in the Soviet Union
Forced settlements in the Soviet Union took several forms. Though the most notorious was the Gulag labor camp system of penal labor, resettling of entire categories of population was another method of political repression implemented by the Soviet Union. At the same time, involuntary settlement...
d to hard labor in the far north or Siberia.
World War II
As World War II began in 1941, the Soviet government intended to deport all the residents of Chortitza to Siberia, but the German WehrmachtWehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
advanced so quickly, the plan could not be executed. Under German occupation, the population made a degree of recovery. But by 1943 German people were evacuated to Reichsgau Wartheland
Reichsgau Wartheland
Reichsgau Wartheland was a Nazi German Reichsgau formed from Polish territory annexed in 1939. It comprised the Greater Poland and adjacent areas, and only in part matched the area of the similarly named pre-Versailles Prussian province of Posen...
, and the Wehrmacht retreated from the Soviet Union. As the Red Army entered German territory they seized refugees attempting to flee the Soviet Union. Some escaped by going deeper into Germany, but as Soviet citizens, the Allies delivered them back to the Soviets. With a few exceptions, the former residents of Chortitza were deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
. There they were simply released on the bare steppe. Many did not survive. They shared the fate of other Germans from Russia
History of Germans in Russia and the Soviet Union
The German minority in Russia and the Soviet Union was created from several sources and in several waves. The 1914 census puts the number of Germans living in Russian Empire at 2,416,290. In 1989, the German population of the Soviet Union was roughly 2 million. In the 2002 Russian census, 597,212...
.
Scattering
After the restriction of free travel was eased in 1956, a few returned to their old home of Chortitza. Today mostly Ukrainians and Russians live there. A few Mennonites, who have either a Russian parent or spouse, can be found there now. In Kazakhstan, Mennonites have gathered in industrial cities such as KaragandaKaraganda
Karagandy , more commonly known by its Russian name Karaganda, , is the capital of Karagandy Province in Kazakhstan. It is the fourth most populous city in Kazakhstan, behind Almaty , Astana and Shymkent, with a population of 471,800 . In the 1940s up to 70% of the city's inhabitants were ethnic...
.
At the end of the 1980s Mennonites in the Soviet Union began to immigrate to Germany. Today the former residents of Chortitza and their descendents are mainly found in Germany.
External links
- Russian Mennonite Genealogical Resources
- Maps, photographs, genealogy and information (German)
- Chortitza Mennonite Settlement, (Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine) in Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online